N. Korea Wants Sub, Bodies Back

September 23, 1996

North Korea demanded the return of a submarine grounded off the coast of South Korea, claiming Monday that the craft merely drifted into enemy waters because of engine trouble during a routine training mission. It was the North's first comment on the abandoned submarine, whose discovery last week led to an escalation in hostilities between the two sides. North Korea also demanded the return of the submarine's crew -- including the bodies of the men killed since abandoning the craft on Wednesday. In comments carried by North Korea's Central News Agency, an unidentified military spokesman for the North said the submarine carried no heavy weapons when it left the eastern port of Wonsan on Sept. 13 on a training mission.